FEATURE MICHAEL O’SULLIVAN
I t feels a bit too much like marketing talk to say that dreams are made at the Cheltenham Festival, though with Michael O’Sullivan that certainly feels the case. It doesn’t happen often, but occasionally, we are met with a story that feels more like Hollywood than it does reality. And if a scriptwriter was to choose a scenario from last season, they would hone in on jockey Michael O’Sullivan, who arrived at the Festival having turned professional just six months earlier. O’Sullivan had only had one ride at the Festival prior to March but found himself with a huge opportunity on board the Barry Connell-trained Marine Nationale, a strongly fancied 9-2 chance for the opening Grade One Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle. Together, the pair would not just triumph but leave the impression
that this was just the beginning of something special – and in O’Sullivan’s case it’s certainly in his pedigree. The 23-year-old hails from a proud racing family that has enjoyed plenty of success at the Festival, with both his father, Willie (Lovely Citizen in 1991), and his cousin, Maxine (It Came To Pass in 2020), winning the St James’s Place Festival Hunters’ Chase for his uncle Eugene O’Sullivan. Horseracing runs in the family and O’Sullivan explains that he has been involved with horses for as long as he can remember: “I grew up on a farm, my father is a dairy farmer and my uncle Eugene is a horse trainer. That’s all on the same farm, so I grew up surrounded by animals and horses. “Everyone rode horses, so I just started riding ponies myself. I did a lot of showjumping, eventing
“Occasionally, we are met with a story that feels more like Hollywood than it does reality”
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